Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Cleaning the Mess

The last two summers we’ve
planned exotic vacations, welcoming the birth of new babies and exploring
places we never thought we would see.

But, not this summer.

Now is the time to look
inward and assess the conditions of who we are and where we live.

This morning I took on the
task of cleaning the chest freezer in the garage. One of the things I know
about cleaning the freezer is that it’s better if I defrost it every year. I
have waited years and years—and just like relationships—a neglected freezer can
be a messy business.

Sometimes life can get so frenetic
and complicated, it’s easy to live side by side instead of together as we vowed
in the white dress.

Cleaning the freezer is kind
of hard for me. After I place the food in coolers and wait for the frost to
drop to the bottom, it’s hard to stretch into the far reaches and wipe out all
the corners.

But, it has to be done—and
sometimes the hardest thing about cleaning a mess is recognizing and admitting
it has to be done—

Seeing there in plain sight
that I’d filled the cherry boxes too full, causing them to overflow and spill
over the sides and onto the bottom of the freezer as they froze last summer. What
a mess.

Make a note: don’t do that
again—

It can be amazing how in
relationships—even the very ones most important to our own welfare—we can make
the same mistake over and over again and again.

Oh, God, we are so weak. Can we ever learn without
Your strength alone? Help me to ask for it. Help me to want it.

I never look forward to cleaning the freezer, but—I
promise you—when you do, you’ll find stuff you need to set out in the trash;
you’ll find things you’d forgotten all about.

And whether it’s a freezer, a
marriage, or a soul—you’ll feel good knowing where your sustenance is.